GimmeDaBlues Application wins ZON Creativity in Multimedia 2011 Award

GimmeDaBlues was created for the iOS (iPod, iPhone, iPad) and allows several users to create Blues in real time in various styles for a Jazz quartet composed of a piano, a trumpet, a double bass and a drum kit.

The application has established a new paradigm for musical applications for Smartphones as unusually it does not work like a conventional virtual musical instrument (e.g. drum kit, piano and guitar). With GimmeDaBlues, the user “plays” in the Jazz quartet with various levels of control over the instruments. The end result always sounds good, whether the user is musically talented or not.

GimmeDaBlues introduces an intelligent intermediary layer between the user and the result of their actions, meaning that their selections are always musically viable and within the Blues style. The user can control the rhythm, the melody and the harmony of the music and the programme controls the more idiomatic and crucial musical elements (such as the combination of the right notes).

The team that developed this application included Rui Dias (professor at ESART-IPCB, researcher at INESC TEC), Carlos Guedes (professor at FEUP and ESMAE, researcher at INESC TEC), George Sioros (researcher at INESC TEC), Telmo Marques (professor at ESMAE, researcher at INESC TEC and CITAR - Centro de Investigação em Ciência e Tecnologia das Artes) and Gilberto Bernardes (professor at ESMAE, researcher at INESC TEC). Rui Dias, George Sioros, and Gilberto Bernardes are on the PhD Programme in Digital Media at FEUP/Programme UT Austin | Portugal and Telmo Marques completed his PhD as part of the PhD Programme in Science and Technology of the Arts, specialising in Computer Music, at the Portuguese Catholic University.

With a GUI design by Clara Morão and IOS Programming by Amaury Hazan, this application can be used in two main ways: as pure entertainment (see video) or for Blues soloist “comping” (accompanying), with a high level of interaction between the user and the soloist (see video).

The ZON Creativity and Multimedia Award is a ZON initiative that is supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Cinema and Audiovisual Institute (ICA). The main aim of the awards is to promote the development of the multimedia and audiovisual industry in Portugal and encourage research in digital and audiovisual contents. This is one of the largest monetary awards in Portugal in multidisciplinary competitions with the top prize of 200 thousand Euros. It is awarded in three categories: Multimedia Contents and Applications, Digital Animation and Short Films. The award also includes grants to study in the US.

More information here.